The UK's Sustainability Conference for Festivals and Events is back on Tuesday 7th March 2017.

GEI is A Greener Festival's annual flagship event delivered in partnership with the International Live Music Conference (ILMC). Each year welcoming diverse and inspiring speakers and projects from around the world to gather and challenge the way we deliver events towards a better impact for our environment and society.

The theme for GEI9 is “Sustainable Design”. The art of creating every aspect of great events involves both creativity and impeccable production techniques. By instilling ecological, economic and social principles in to all aspects of event design in conception, communication, implementation and review, necessary changes can be achieved.

GEI 9 will explore how sustainable design is being applied to operations, artwork, infrastructure and management, to align events with our natural and technological environment in the 21st century.

This is in addition to the usual programme of the most current innovations and developments at festivals and events from around the world, including those assessed by A Greener Festival.

Panel: Professional Power! Smart Design of Event Energy

Paul Schurink (ZAP Concepts, NL) | Steve Muggeridge (Green Gathering, UK) | Tim Benson (UK)

Paul Schurink is an expert in the field of temporary energy supply, sustainability and innovations and has been involved with a variety of large-scale events including the Olympic Games and UEFA EURO 2012. He will present a case study of Zap's work with DGTL BCN festival in Spain.

Joining Paul will be environmentally conscious event organiser and sustainable event veteran, Steve Muggeridge, of iconic Green Gathering fame, who will reveal how the event’s team go about designing the site layout, their use of power hubs, and even the programming of the entertainment, in order that the entire festival is run on renewable energy.

Launch: The Smart Energy for Outdoor Festivals Guide
Chris Johnson, Powerful Thinking, Shambala Festival (UK)

Five years on from the launch of The Power Behind Festivals Guide, Powerful Thinking has released a comprehensive update to their indispensable industry energy guide – Smart Energy for Outdoor Festivals. And what's more, this eagerly awaited guide will be exclusively launched by Chris Johnson, during GEI9.

Keynote: Designing Sustainability into the DNA of Events
Lucy Legan, Co-founder, Ecocentro IPEC (BR)

Ecocentro IPEC in Brazil is the largest reference centre of sustainability in Latin America, and demonstrates scalable models of social technologies. Keynote speaker, Lucy Legan MSc, has played an integral role in environmental education in Brazil and is a best-selling author of educational books on sustainability literacy.

Since 2006, Lucy has collaborated with Boom Festival, Portugal, as it transitions to a model of sustainability by implementing permaculture edible gardens for festival-goers, natural construction, composting during the festival on a large-scale (with 90 tons composted on-site during the last edition), and by co-ordinating a highly efficient waste-management team.

Many festivals and events are taking on the challenge of innovation in sustainability. A new paradigm of sustainable and responsible events takes into account the dynamic elements potentially acting as a laboratory for change. The future of green events is in the hands of event producers and event attendees.

Permaculture design offers a framework for thinking and designing sustainable festivals and events, where new economies, ecological landscapes, scaled technological solutions, transition strategies and social redesign can be tried out in a temporary autonomous zone.

Presentation: Latest Actions & Challenges for Greener Festivals
Claire O’Neill, Co-Founder, A Greener Festival (UK)

Following the assessment of 25 festivals across 11 countries in 2016, A Greener Festival will provide insight into the latest developments and key challenges that events are experiencing in the pursuit of sustainability, and will also be launching the Greener Festival Assessment Report.

Presentation: What Next? Environmental Policy Post-Brexit
Amy Mount, Head of Greener UK Unit & Senior Energy Policy Advisor, Green Alliance (UK)

Greener UK is a group of 13 major environmental organisations with a combined public membership of 7.9 million, united in the belief that the UK leaving the EU will provide us with a pivotal moment to restore and enhance the UK’s environment.

Amy Mount will offer insights into the risks and opportunities that Brexit poses to UK environmental policy, and the work of Greener UK, which includes NGOs such as WWF, Greenpeace, National Trust and the Woodland Trust.

Panel: Wider Environment – Nationalism & Climate Change Denial
Fruzsina Szép, Yourope/Lollapalooza (DE) | Holger Jan Schmidt, Co-founder, GO Group (DE) | Stephen Budd, Stephen Budd Music (UK) | Ivan Milivojev, Exit Festival/Yourope (RS)

Green events are about more than just lowering our environmental impact. In this session, we will look at the social and cultural effects of recent global political developments, and what role events might play.

Fruzsina Szép will share the actions of European festival association, Yourope, and their recent Take a Stand initiative, aimed at encouraging festival promoters to foster values of “social togetherness, understanding and tolerance for all cultures, genders, races, religions, sexual orientations, colours and origins.”

Fruzsina will be joined by renowned artist manager, Stephen Budd, who will be sharing his recent experiences of artist censorship and oppression with us; along with Exit Festival's Ivan Milivoje, GO Group's Holger Jan Schmidt and Amy Mount from Green Alliance.

According to research from the FreeMuse annual report Art Under Threat, such cases have more than doubled since 2015. What action must we take, therefore, to protect our freedom to present an alternative, inclusive vision for society?

Panel: Sustainable Set & Stage Design
Chris Tofu, Continental Drifts (UK) | Bertie Cole, Arcadia Spectacular (UK) | Tim Leigh (Stage One) | Andrea Carr, Artist (UK) | Robin Collings, Shangri La / Boomtown Fair (UK)

With the competition to create sets and stages that are more impressive, more elaborate, and more expensive to build, maintain and shift, this session will ask how innovative approaches to extravagant stage and set design can be delivered without a jarring waste of the world’s resources. Hear from the leading set and stage designers and builders about what techniques are being adopted to reduce the waste without loosing the artistic impact.

Presentation: The Environmental Impact of Fireworks
Aymeric Lecomte, A Greener Festival/Bournemouth University (UK)

They might be visually impressive but what is the environmental impact of firework displays at events? Is there a legitimate cause for concern or does the bang really outweigh the bother?

Aymeric Lecomte presents the latest research on this controversial subject, and opens the debate for the future of special effects in the live entertainment industry.

Dr Thomas Smith, British Pyrotechnics Associsation (UK),

Dr. Thomas Smith will present an industry and consultant’s view on the environmental issues surrounding the use of fireworks and pyrotechnics – and to try and dispel some of the myths that surround their use at events big or small.

Drawing on his experience as a chemist and having worked in the industry since his teenage years and latterly as a consultant to major events such as London NYE and the Olympics, Tom has a unique perspective on what the issues really are.

Panel: The Future World of Special Effects
Moderator: Ivana Dragila, EPS (DE) | Andrew McQuillan, Crowded Space Drones (UK) | Dr Thomas Smith, British Pyrotechnics Association (UK) | Stuart Warren-Hill, Hologauze (UK) |

Having turned the spotlight on the environmental impact of fireworks and special FX, Patrick and Aymeric will take a subsequent look at alternative methods of providing the wow factor at events without literally costing the earth.

From drones, lasers and holograms to mindboggling chemical compounds – what does the future look like in the explosive world of special effects?

Panel: Designing Inputs for Greener Outputs
Chris Cooke, CMU (UK) | Chris Johnson, Shambala Festival (UK) | Lucy Legan, Boom Festival (PT) | Mikkel Sander, Roskilde Festival (DK)

Smart events choose smart design. In this panel we will look at how infrastructure can be planned and delivered in a way that it will help events significantly lower their wastage of fuel, water, food, materials and resources.

If you would like to get involved contact claire@agreenerfestival.com

Event Photo by Ramona Carraro
Sculpture by Sam Haggerty (Mutoid Waste)
Unfair Ground, Glastonbury